Removal and safe disposal of sharps from medical tools

ABSTRACT

A sheath for the disposal of medical needles, the sheath having a tubular portion which is closed at one end. The other end is open and has gripping means to grip the boss portion of the needle. The sheath is then manipulated to remove the needle from the syringe, leaving the needle fully protected in the sheath.

This application is a division of Ser. No. 07/265,707, filed Nov. 1,1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,315.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,744 to Jagger et al, describes a self re-sheathingsafety case for a needle but this requires a special construction ofsyringe and even with its relative complexity is not entirelyfool-proof.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,281 describes a needle disposal system in whichneedles are safely removed and dropped into a container but the point ofthe needle is still exposed in the container and as indicated can andoften does penetrate the walls of the container and cause problems todisposal personnel.

This invention relates to improvements in the removal of sharp pointedsections of medical instruments and their safe disposal or the disposalof sharp pointed medical instruments or sharps as they are known.

Sharps may include needles for hypodermic syringes, canulas, scalpels,catheters or any other sharp pointed instruments used in medicaltreatment and which are generally of the disposable kind but which,because they have been used for treating ill people may be carryingdisease organisms or other infectious bodies.

To meet stringent health and safety regulations and to minimizetransmission of bacteria, viruses, disease or other organisms or otherorganisms having the potential to create disease or illness it is now apractice to dispose of the sharp or needle section of a medical deviceor the complete medical tool with the sharp or needle section attachedonce the medical tool has been used after coming into contact only oncewith a human body. In most cases, such as blood sample collection, it isnecessary to remove the needle or other device from the medical tool andit is during this process that many occurrences of injury occur. Suchinjuries are referred to as needle stick injuries and it is to theprevention of needle stick injuries that this present invention isdirected.

A further problem is that the procedure for the disposal of the sharpsor needles at present whether or not they have been removed from asyringe is to drop them into a storage container which may then bedestroyed by burning or the like. It is found, however, that needles maytend to puncture and project out of the sides of a container into whichthey have been placed and cause problems for disposal personnel as well.Hence, this invention is directed to preventing needles from being ableto create further injury once they have been dropped into a disposalcontainer.

It is one object of this invention therefore, to alleviate the necessityto handle a needle or the boss of a needle during the disposal processand to prevent that needle from being able to cause any further injuryonce removed.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,744 to Jagger et al. describes a self re-sheathingsafety case for a needle but this requires a special construction ofsyringe and even with its relative complexity is not entirelyfool-proof.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,281 describes a needle disposal system in whichneedles are safely removed and dropped into a container but the point ofthe needle is still exposed in the container and as indicated can andoften does penetrate the walls of the container and cause problems todisposal personnel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is to overcoming these various problems that this present inventionis directed.

In one form therefore, the invention is said to reside in a sheath forthe disposal of medical sharps, the sheath comprising a tubular portionclosed at one end and being open at the other, the open end of thesheath having a radially outwardly extending flange, the flangeincluding means to guide the tip of a medical sharp into the tube andthe inner surface of the tube in the region of the flange includingmeans to grippingly engage a boss portion of the medical sharp.

This sheath therefore is long enough to completely encase the needle orsharp and then holds it rigid so that the needle or sharp cannot projectout of the sides of the sheath or the bottom of the sheath. The flangeis of a sufficient size to enable the sheath to be held in the handwhile directing the point of the medical sharp into the tube with thefingers being protected. Once the boss of the medical sharp is receivedand held in the gripping portion of the tube the syringe or other devicecan be rotated to release the sharp from the medical tool and then oneor either parts can be disposed of. Alternatively, the medical tool andthe sharp attached may be disposed of as a single unit with completesafety.

Preferably the outer surface of the tube adjacent to the flange includesribs to assist with grasping of the sheath for the removal process.

The means to grippingly engage the boss of a medical sharp may include aplurality of longitudinal ridges extending radially inwards from theinner surface of the tube to enable gripping of the boss by the ridges.

Alternatively, the means to grippingly engage the boss of the medicalsharp may include an inside portion of the tube being substantiallycylindrical and having a diameter to engage with an interference fit theboss of the medical sharp.

The means to guide the tip of the medical sharp into the tube maycomprise a bevelled surface between the flange and the inner surface ofthe tube.

In another form, the invention may reside in a medical sharp disposalrack comprising a tray having an upper substantially planar horizontalsurface with a plurality of apertures thereon and apertures receivingand supporting a plurality of sheaths as defined above with their openends upward.

By this means the sheaths may be supported during the removal stage sothat the user's second hand may be kept completely away from the tip ofthe medical sharp thereby completely eliminating any danger. Once theboss of the medical sharp has been firmly engaged in the grippingportion of the tube then the sheath while still connected to the medicaltool may be removed from the tray and either disposed of as discussedabove as a complete unit or the sheath with the sharp engaged thereincan be removed from the medical tool and disposed of separately.

Alternatively, the invention may be said to reside in a medical sharpdisposal tray having an upper substantially planar and horizontalsurface with a plurality of tubes extending from apertures in thesurface and having closed lower ends, each tube having a bevelledportion between the planar surface and the inner surface of the tube toassist with guiding the tip of a medical sharp into the tube and havingmeans to grippingly engage the boss at the base of a medical sharp wheninserted into the tube.

By this form of the invention the medical sharps may be received in thetubes in the disposal tray and then when all of the tubes in the trayare full the entire lot may be disposed of.

It will be realized that where medical sharps have differentarrangements of bosses or gripping means at the base of their pointedsection then other gripping means are within the scope of this inventionto enable the pointed section to be clearly protected as describedabove.

It will be noted that with the various forms of the invention asdiscussed above it is not necessary for a user to remove the needlesection manually from the medical tool before it is inserted into thesheath and thereby there is much less chance of injury from the medicalsharp.

It may not be necessary for the user to remove the needle section fromthe medical tool prior to disposal and in this situation a firm downwardmovement of the sheath onto a hard surface, once it is installed ontothe medical sharp will more tightly affix the sheath to the needlesection of the medical tool and the needle section to the medical toolitself so that the medical tool and sharp and sheath can be disposed ofas a single unit. This again provides considerable safety because theneedle cannot enter the user.

If desired, there may be further provided within each tube of either thesheath or the fixed construction as discussed above, a foam or othercompound to assist with holding a needle where perhaps such needles donot have a boss which will be easily engaged into the sheath.

In general, therefore, this invention provides a safe method for theremoval of medical sharps from a medical tool and their disposal andhence in a further embodiment the invention is said to reside in amethod of safe removal of medical sharps from medical tools and thedisposal of medical sharps substantially as earlier discussed. It willbe particularly noted that the method requires only a one handedoperation and hence as one hand is holding the medical tool the otherhand can be placed well away so that there is no danger of a needlepiercing the skin of a user and perhaps transmitting a disease such asAIDS.

This then generally describes the invention but to more clearly assistwith understanding the invention reference will now be made to theaccompanying drawings which shows preferred embodiments of the inventionand show how the invention is used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows in part cross-section a sheath for the removal and disposalof medical sharps,

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an alternative sheath for theremoval of medical sharps with a hypodermic syringe needle in thesheath.

FIG. 3 shows a disposal tray with a number of sheaths supported therein,

FIGS. 4 to 8 show the various stages in the process of removal of amedical sharp from a hypodermic syringe and

FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment of medical sharp disposal tray.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Now looking more closely at the drawings and in particular FIG. 1 itwill be seen that the sheath generally shown as 1 comprises a tubularportion 2 having a closed end 3 and an open end 4. The open end has abevelled inner surface 5 to assist with guiding the tip of a medicalsharp into the hollow part 6 of the tube 2. A flange 7 extends radiallyoutwardly from the open end 4 of the sheath 1 and the size of the flangeis such that if the sheath is held by the fingers then the fingers willbe substantially guarded by the flange. On the outside of the sheath 1are a number of ridges or ribs 8 underneath the flange 7 so that theoutside of the sheath may be grasped while the needle is being removedonce the boss has been engaged in the tube. To assist with engaging theboss into the tube the inner surface of the tube 2 immediately adjacentthe open end includes longitudinal ridges 9 which engage the boss of amedical sharp to assist with removal.

An alternative embodiment of medical sharp removal sheath is shown inFIG. 2 with a hypodermic syringe needle engaged therein. In thisembodiment the gripping region 10 of the tube 11 includes asubstantially cylindrical inner surface 12 to engage with aninterference fit around the boss 13 of a medical sharp. It will be seenthat the needle 14 of the medical sharp is well protected in the sheathand cannot move sideways and pierce the walls of the tubular portion ofthe sheath.

It will be also noted that the top 16 of the boss is recessed well belowthe flange area 15 and hence the medical sharp cannot easily be removedfor illegal further use.

FIG. 3 shows a number of sheaths 1 engaged in a tray 20. The trayincludes a number of apertures 21 into which the sheaths 1 are received.The sheaths are supported in the tray by the ends of the ribs 8 on edgesof the apertures 21, but can easily be removed as they are loosely held.

Now looking at FIGS. 4 to 8 which show the various stages in the removalof a needle it will be seen in FIG. 4 that a syringe is being held inone hand with the point 30 of the syringe 31 pointed down into one ofthe sheaths 32 supported in the tray 33. It will be noted that only onehand is necessary to hold the syringe and the other hand is completelyaway from the tray 33.

The needle 30 is pushed into the tube of the sheath 32 until the boss 34as shown in FIG. 4 is completely pushed into the tube as can be seen inFIG. 5. As can be seen in FIG. 6 the sheath 32 is then engaged onto thesyringe 31 and the sheath is removed from the tray 33 and then as shownin FIG. 7 both hands can be used to remove the sheath 32 from the tool31 leaving the needle fully protected by the sheath.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8 from the stage shown in FIG. 6 themedical tool 31 with the sheath 32 engaged can be struck onto a hardsurface 35 thereby firmly engaging the boss of the needle into thesheath and the syringe firmly into the boss so that the two portions canbe disposed of together.

FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment where a tray 40 includes a numberof apertures 41. Each aperture includes a tubular portion 42 closed atits lower end 43 and including gripping ribs 44 to engage the boss 45 ofa syringe 46. There is a bevelled portion 47 between the planar uppersurface of the tray 40 and the tube 42 to assist with guiding the point48 of a needle into the tube. Once the boss 45 has been firmly engagedin the tube 42 then the syringe 46 may be twisted to remove the needletherefrom and to leave the needle firmly engaged in the tray 40. Onceall of the apertures in the tray have been filled the tray as a wholemay then be disposed of.

The materials of construction of the sheath and tray or moulded sheathand tray combination may be any plastics material such as polyethyleneor polypropylene or alternatively the tray may be made from cardboard orother suitable material. The preferred method of construction is byinjection-moulding but other methods may also be used.

I claim:
 1. An apparatus for receiving and holding medical sharps fordisposal, comprising:a planar surface containing a plurality ofapertures therein; a plurality of sheaths for receipt and disposal ofsaid sharps, each of said sheaths attached to and formed as one piecewith said planar surface and extending perpendicularly from one of saidapertures, each of said sheaths comprising a tubular portion closed at alower end and open at an upper end, the upper inner surface of saidsheaths comprising means for grippingly engaging a boss portion of saidmedical sharp.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said planar surfaceis substantially horizontal and said sheaths extend downward from saidapertures.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means forgrippingly engaging a boss portion of a medical sharp comprises aplurality of ridges extending radially inward from the inner surface ofthe tubular portion.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means forgrippingly engaging a boss portion of a medical sharp comprises aninside portion of the tubular portion which is substantially cylindricaland has an inside diameter chosen so as to engage the boss portion withan interference fit.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the open upperend of each of said sheaths comprises means for assisting in guiding atip of a medical sharp into the sheath.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5,wherein said means for assisting in guiding a tip of a medical sharpinto the sheath comprises a bevelled surface at the upper open end ofthe sheath.